kwilco

It's called rain - "monsoon" is the weather system.

I have worked at Pinthong 1, I think there was a logistics company there tht used to handle UK passport renewals for a while. very dodgy access via a sharp bend. - do you realise how many thousands of people work on the industrial estates in this region? Latest calculation, I worked at over 60 companies in the region "Initially proposed in 2013 as an HSR to Pattaya, the project was expanded to include U-Tapao in Rayong as part of the Eastern Economic Corridor railway. In 2017, the line was extended from Makkasan to Don Mueang, creating a three-airport connection." I don't think the pPattay link is assured at present.

Spo did I, I worked on ALL the industrial estates between ChachoengSao, Chonburi and Rayong, Al the new railways are part of the same overall project. I also spent almost every day driving around that area.

As Said they are using the same land HST is not an independant exercise - it is part of a huge Chinese project to improve their trade links across S.E> Asia. in the form of moving people and goods.- THe links to the air[orts are for business customers as well as tourism - have you looked at the map - you can see the EEC development reh=gion - Chachoengsao, chonburi and /Rayong. It is already on of the largest industrial areas in S.E.Asia and will expand exponentially in the next 5 years. Te airport links are an important part of this.

over half of all industria waste in that region is disposed of in sites that are unsuitable. Landfills are toxic and dangerous and apprpriate facilitie are not available so places around the region are loaded with waste that is deadly and inflammable.

Th freight is already operating to China. U-tapao is Rayong

so never saw any ail time at all - I don't find that surprising.

watch this space....

I think you need to see - what happens to Bang Saen - during not just race week but in the weeks running up to the event. THere is as you say no open wheel racing however the extent of preparation for this event and it's size would indicate that the organizers are very keen to get Thailand involved in Formula racing somewhere in Thailand. You will also see that these people have money behind rthem "people of influence" too.

The Thai-Chinese high speed rail runs along the same piece of land as the dual-track frieght rail. THis is already running freight to China

Don't think you've got a handle on this

Plenty of money for this

You need to see the rail links in terms of the EEC. ....and of course frieght

I don't think you are aware of how well motoracing is already established in Thailand and the big money behind it. Even royalty - he BIRA venue at Pattay is named after first Thai Formula 1 racing driver, Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh. Bang Sean has "race week" every year - the entire town is converted to a race track. (and there's bike week too) One thing for sure is that in Thailand if there's money. they'll find a place to race.

It is only the parks used by foreign tourists en masse. Most are marine parks and most visitors don't even know thy are being charged as they go on a tour.. THese parks are way oversubscribed and probably need to charge more to keep up with the damage they cause. All the other parks in Thailand are subject to the same banded charges which simply don't take into account the "value" of each park.

THey have been in place for 20 years

QED!

It's not "supposed" to be "spelt" in any way - it's just convention not a rule. Again a facile approach to language.

WHAT??? facile is the result of failing to take into account the full complexity of a topic before commenting on it - ignoring the evidence - take ing the easy route.

You really don't geddit do you? How do the sins of one country mitigate or justify the sins of another? THis is about how Thai land manages there national resources - which BTW, are the foundation of 205 of their GDP. It's also about conservation and how they could actually INCREASE their income -

what is sad is you don't seem to realise how facile that comment is.

dual pricing is a pain and a bad idea - it is NOT racist (only a racist would think that) - I mean what do they hope to prove or improve with that comment? National parks in Thailand are funded by entrance fees and government money - the fees are uni=versal in about 3 or three bands - but the parks vary immensely in size locations and number of visitors, so the whole pricing situation is just ridiculous - you can't paint them all with the same brush. Each park needs to be priced accordingly - Hyper Charging foreigners is a bad move both in terms of raising money and in public image. Around the world the norm is to establish a fee based on the park's individual qualities and then give "discounts" to various groups - e.g. students OAPs, locals etc. THere have been studies a few years back that pointed out that the extra paid by foreigners in most parks does nothing to increase income - it just deters visitors. One study on Khao Yai also showed that levelling of the fees by raising the base rate and abolishing the foreigner rate was totally acceptable to Thai park visitors. General management and conservation in National parks leaves a lot to be desired - politicians who are given this office are considered to have been "put out to grass" - there is underfunding, corruption poaching and encroachment all right under the noses of the authorities. Properly managed national parks can increase visitors and sustanable income and at the same time improve conservation. THe forests of Thailand are unique outside the amazon in that they are some of the last virgin forest in the region, they need to be conserved,managed and not over run by tour groups

You therefore have already paid and most visitors pay in the cost of the tour so don't even know they are paying. THese are holiday centres and the change in demogrphics since Covid has hugely increased th numbers - they are actually being concentrated in these few parks. THe overall situation with National parks is quite different - All parks rely on government funding to some extent and dual pricing does nothing to help. THese figures suggest that Thai National Parks are making huge money when quite the opposite is true - moaning about dual pricing and saying you won't visit these parks is not the problem as I said in the OP.

It's amazing how so many foreign residents and retirees in that region are completely unaware of what is happening all aound them.

That's the normal way for a tourist visa.